Sydney Peace Rally – February 16, 2003

On Palm Sunday, 2003 the Snook and I joined half a million other folks to march through Sydney in a massive peace demonstration. We saw old people in wheelchairs, suburban parents with kids, dreadlocked backpackers, and young people like us. It was amazing.

We arrived at St. James station to find Hyde Park bursting with people. As the Snook had just woken up, we then spent 30 minutes standing in line to get him a coffee. (So much for our hip protestor image.) I was pretty glad to grab the last Diet Coke in probably the whole CBD, though.

I was amazed at how much creativity and wit were on display with all the signs. This one is a prime example of the "Make Fun of Bush" theme: "Stop Mad Cowboy Disease!"

Stop the U.S. Ass Licking! Simple and to the point.

About this time I started to notice a disturbing theme: vilifying my surname. Snookums thinks I should sue John Howard (Australian Prime Minister) for defamation. This one reads: "Yankee Go Home! And Take Howard With You!"

Here we are exhibiting our home-made T-shirts. The Snook's reads: "BEERS NOT BOMBS". Mine says: "MAKE CRAFTS NOT WAR". Yes, we're still waiting for coffee at this point.

This was one of the highlights of the rally. Someone made a life-size paper maché model of George W. Bush followed by his faithful puppy dog John Howard. The Howard dog was on a track which allowed him to rush up and lick Bush's bum. Genius.

I took this picture for the little boy holding up the "WAR SUCKS" sign, but I also think it gives a good idea of the cross-section of people that attended.